Need for Speed
by Beastbot X
Summary: The Brotherhood enters an underground racing circuit, but is there more behind it than it would at first appear? Thirteenth in my XMen: Evolution series.


"Need for Speed"

by Beastbot

_(Author's Note: Yes, this fic is a parody of sorts of the "Need for Speed" racing game series. I mean, I like the games quite a bit, but… c'mon, their cheesiness is RIPE for parody. I also felt after all the seriousness of the last couple of fics, it was time for a bit more of light-hearted tone. Additionally, it's important to note that this fic takes place over about six weeks' time—the next four fics after this actually all take place during the same time frame as this one fanfic, but each of them, as will be obvious eventually, takes place in a considerably shorter period of time. One of the main reasons for doing this—besides for the sake of the plot of this fanfic—is to sort of show what the Brotherhood has been "up to" while all the upcoming stuff is happening to the X-Men. This way it's not just "stuff happens to the X-Men for a while, then the Brotherhood comes in and does something after sitting on their thumbs for five fanfics, etc." Just like in real life, each side has their own things they're doing, and they won't always fit into conveniently-timed stories that are mostly separate. So yeah, I'm gonna reference (vaguely) some of the stuff upcoming in the next few fics, as they'll be taking place during the same time frame, and I can't resist a teaser now and then. Got that? Enjoy!)_

Seeing the blue bolt coming towards them, the rest of the Brotherhood members instinctively shielded their eyes as Noriko came to an abrupt stop in front of them, her arms full.

"Alright, they had raspberry, they almost NEVER have that when I go!" Fred said, taking the appropriate slushie from Noriko's stash cradled in her hands. "Thanks, Noriko!"

"You guys owe me," Noriko stated as the rest of the Brotherhood members grabbed their respective slushies from her grasp. "Do you realize how hard it is to not only steal six slushies from a convenience store, but NOT spill them on your electrified gauntlets as you race away at a hundred and fifty miles per hour?"

"It's the graveyard shift, Noriko," Lance replied. "Judging from my past experiences shoplifting there, the guy was probably nodding off when you shot in there anyways."

"Ow!" Toad shrieked as the cup he had started to sip from gave him a pretty decent shock. He reflexively dropped the cup, which, since it was made of cheap styrofoam, partially broke in half, spilling the slushie contents all over the sidewalk. "Awww…."

"No, I am NOT getting you another one," Noriko said.

"I didn't say anything…." Toad said sheepishly, even though he had just been about to ask Noriko that very thing.

"And why do they call it a 'graveyard shift', anyways?" Noriko asked, her attention turning back to Lance. "I thought a graveyard was where you laid the dead to rest. Or do I have that wrong?"

"No, you got it right," Lance replied. "It's just called a 'graveyard shift' because it's 'dead'—everyone's sleeping now."

"Well, except for us, since this is the only time Mystique lets us have off, mate!" John laughed. To avoid attracting attention to themselves, John had reluctantly agreed to wear "normal" clothes—a black pair of denim jeans and a red T-shirt with an imprint of a fireball with a crazy-looking face on it—though John insisted he was going to change back into his "real clothes" as soon as they got back to their base.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Lance said as he went back to drinking his slushee.

"She has seriously been high-maintenance lately," Fred cut in. "I think I've actually lost weight this month!"

"Oh no, not THAT, Freddy," Noriko said sarcastically, smirking and winking at Blob.

"Well, it… it just isn't right. We need SOME time off to do our own stuff, is all I'm sayin'."

"I'm not arguing with you there," Noriko responded, "But Mystique saved me from a life in solitary confinement. I'm not about to start getting on her case just because she can be a little demanding now and then."

"Hey, ya mind if you and me split one, Schnookums?" Toad asked Wanda hopefully, holding up the straw from his destroyed slushie cup and grinning.

"Toad, go. Away." Wanda said, her brows furrowing as she continued to sip at her slushie.

"Aw, have mercy, Cuddlebumps—"

"I am NOT letting any of your disgusting slime get on my drink. Go away."

"Just one si—"

Wanda sighed and hexed Toad across the road and straight into a telephone pole.

"….Ow."

John laughed hysterically, to no one's surprise.

"I swear, sometimes I think he WANTS to get hurt," Lance commented as Toad slumped down to the ground and rubbed the back of his head.

Wanda just shook her head as Toad slowly got up and started to make his way back across the street.

John was the first one to hear the high-pitched whining and screeching from the left, rapidly growing in intensity.

"Hey, you all hearin' that or is it just me?"

"What's going on?" Fred asked as the rest of the Brotherhood members turned towards the sound, seeing quickly-growing lights coming down the road at an alarming speed.

Noriko was the first to put two-and-two together.

"TOAD, LOOK OUT!" Noriko yelled, dashing across the street and yanking Toad's puzzled form along with her. No sooner had she and Toad reached the other side of the street than several sportscars zoomed by at speeds that were many times above the legal speed limit. A fraction of a second later, another few sportscars flew by, followed another couple of seconds later by a few partially-damaged sportscars going relatively slowly, but still definitely speeding.

"You… you saved my life!" Toad exclaimed in realization, hugging Noriko. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you…"

"Oookay, that's enough thanks, you're welcome," Noriko said, disgust evident on her face as she peeled Toad's smelly form off of her.

"What the heck was that all about?!" Fred asked as he and the rest of the Brotherhood members ran over to the opposite side of the street to where Noriko and Toad were.

"Underground racing circuit, apparently," Noriko responded. "I wasn't aware Bayville had one."

"I saw a news report on it a few days ago, now that I think about it," Lance said. "Didn't pay much attention to it, but yeah, something about some racing group making its way into Bayville that the cops were having trouble catching."

"Hey….." John said, a smirk suddenly forming on his face. "I think I have an idea, mates…."

"Let me guess," Noriko said. "It involves all of us doing something crazy, with a ninety-nine percent chance of something being set on fire."

"Actually, no," John laughed. "You'll be the only one doing something crazy, 'Riko."

"Mm-hrm. And I suppose no comment on the whole 'something being set on fire' part."

"Er… yeah, no comment."

"So what makes you think I'll agree to your crazy proposition, whatever it may be?" Noriko replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because, 'Riko… it involves us making a lot of green. A LOT of green."

"Oh, now I got that bad feelin' in my stomach again…" Toad moaned. "Pyro, you're just as bad as Pietro, you know that?"

* * *

"You sure dat's them, 'Riko?"

"Well, gee, Toad, there's a bunch of people standing around behind a building with ludicrously suped-up cars, looking around constantly to make sure there's no police anywhere nearby. Yeah, that's them."

"So how'd you find 'em?"

"I followed the tire skid marks on the street intersections. Y'know, Toad, it's amazing how much paying attention to your surroundings helps you track down your target."

"Then why haven't the cops found 'em yet?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Noriko replied, starting to lose her patience. "No, Toad, I don't know. My guess, this is a fairly small town. You generally don't have underground racing gangs in small towns, so the police aren't used to dealing with this kind of stuff. I'm not sure why these people chose Bayville, of all places, to race in."

"Let me see those for a second," Lance said, taking the binoculars from Noriko to look from the rooftop they were all on down to the parking lot below. "Hmm… nah, I don't recognize any of 'em. Crud, I was hoping that would make entering this racing circuit easier."

"Speaking of which, where the heck are John and Wanda?" Noriko said, taking the binoculars back. "They should have been here by now. It's going to be hard to enter this thing without a sportscar of our own."

"Right over there," Fred said, pointing towards a black Ferrari that had just parked on the other side of the building, in a spot that could easily be seen by them but not by the underground racers. "They just pulled up."

* * *

"Where were you guys?" Noriko said as the rest of the Brotherhood caught up with Wanda and John on the street below. "I think that gang is almost ready to start their next race, so we don't have much time."

"It takes a while to find a sportscar of this caliber, hex it so that none of the locks work, and then have John here use a torch to re-do the locks so that the doors can close again," Wanda said.

"There had to have been an easier way to do that," Lance said.

"Hey mate, you want it done fast or you want it done right?" John replied.

"It's 4 A.M.! We've got to be back at our headquarters in an hour!" Lance yelled.

"Then we don't have much time to lose," Noriko said, hoping in the car. "Ooo, nice pick, John. I really like this interior."

"Wait'll you see how it handles," John replied, winking. "Now, get this girl over to the other side of the building. We've got a race to enter."

* * *

Glancing back one last time at the other Brotherhood members, Noriko and Toad wheeled out in the Ferrari onto the edge of the parking lot, with Noriko promptly putting the car in park.

Always on the lookout, a few of the gang members yelled to get everyone else's attention, and most of the people present started to advance slowly on the car, a few fingering handguns in their pockets.

"Why did I bring you with me again?" Noriko asked Toad as she carefully took off her electric gauntlets and laid them behind the drivers' seat and out-of-sight.

"You'll see in a few seconds," Toad smirked as they both got out of the car.

"Yo, squares!" one of the gang members-- wearing a backwards baseball cap, sunglasses (even though it was the dead of night), and heavily decked out in golden neck jewelry—yelled out as Noriko and Todd strode towards them. "What you doin, bringin' that all up in here? You lookin' for trouble?"

"Okay, I got the last four words of that," Noriko muttered to Toad.

"THIS is why I'm here," Toad grinned. "I grew up 'round this kinda stuff, 'Riko. Let me handle this. You gotta speak their language."

"'ey 'ey 'ey, don't be hatin', bro!" Toad yelled, stepping forward. "We's jus' wantin' to take part in yer pow-wow, th' flatfoots ain't anywhere 'round!"

"Pow-wow?" the gang member replied back, raising an eyebrow.

"Dang, skills must be gettin' rusty," Toad muttered to himself before continuing. "Y'know what I'm talking about, homes! Blue-hair here wants ta enter the races."

"Then why don't she speak for herself?"

"Okay, I understood that, too," Noriko whispered to Toad. "Am I getting better at this?"

Todd was about to reply, until he saw that the gang member was now right in their faces, and towered over both of them. Several other members were now flanking him, each wielding some kind of weapon.

"No more whisperin' between 'nother, y'hear?" the gang member said. "You squares got somethin' to hide, you get it out yo' system now, y'hear me?"

"Whoa, don't taze me, bro!" Toad said, which left some of the gang members looking at each other with eyebrows arched. "We just talkin', homes. We already played it out for ya, what we be wantin' to do—race in yo' tournament. As y'can see, we got our own ride."

"I got eyes, boy," the gang member stated. "What I don't see is yo' girl's skills. We get squares comin' up in here all the time, thinkin' they all that 'n a side 'a bacon. But then they get in their ride and they prove they nuttin' but a poser's poser, you got me?"

"I got ya, I got ya," Toad insisted, raising his hands in defense. "But Blue-hair here, she got mad skills. MAD skills. She one 'a dem Japs, raised on the streets 'a Tokyo. Knows her way 'round a race, and a gear shift."

The gang member's gaze shifted back and forth between the two Mutants before continuing. "A'right, she looks like she might have skills, 'getting that ride at her age. Tell ya what, Q's busy enough right now, but I'm his right-hand man. I'll let y'all race—next week, Thursday, 1:30 A.M. sharp, corner of Berkeley and Robinson Street. You squeal to anyone—ANYONE—else 'bout this, you both gonna have yo' faces busted in."

"A'ight, then," Toad said. "We game then, we game. Next Thursday it is."

"Aight, squares," the gang member replied. "Name's Devin, 'n case you need to get my attention in the future. Now, we gotta race to get on right now. You all best be leavin', 'cause if I still see you two wanna-bes around here in two minutes, all bets are off."

"See you Thursday then, Holmes," Toad said, using hand gestures that almost looked like gang symbols, but not quite. Noriko followed Toad's movements, but said nothing as the two got back into their car, backed it up out of the parking lot, and slowly drove it around the corner as they heard the squealing of wheels coming from the lot, indicating the current race was just taking off.

"So, how'd it go?" John said as he and the other Brotherhood members ran out of a dark alley and up to the Ferrari.

"I think we got in," Noriko said, putting back on her gauntlets. "I _think_. I understood maybe a third of what was said back there."

"Yeah, we're in," Toad said, giving a thumbs up.

"So, now what?" Noriko asked. "I'm assuming you have a way of guaranteeing we win every race we enter, John."

"You got that right, mate!" John grinned. "You can use your powers to enhance your reflexes when you need to, and then channel whatever energy you got left into the car, to help it go faster."

"Wait, what!?" Lance said incredulously.

"John, I can do the reflexes thing, but my powers do NOT work like that," Noriko said, rolling her eyes. "Heck, CARS do not work like that."  
"I take it back," Toad said. "Even Pietro's better at this kinda stuff than you, Pyro. At least he got us past the initial plannin' stage before we all figured out we was screwed."

"Oh," John said sheepishly, "Well, um… maybe I could create a fire wall at a certain area of the track to ignite your opponents' cars!"

"First off, if my opponents are AHEAD of me—which they likely would be if we needed to use such drastic measures—then I'D probably slam into the wall of fire too, knowing how fast these races go," Noriko sneered. "And secondly, don't you think something like that MIGHT arouse suspicions that we're cheating?"

"Uh…well….um…"

"John, you _suck_," Lance said. "Thanks for letting us waste the entire night for nothing, you turd."

"Wait a minute," Fred said. "I think I got an idea. Noriko, you ever heard of _The Flintstones_?"

* * *

"You sure this is going to work?"

"Hey, look at it this way, Noriko," Fred replied. "Worst thing, it doesn't and we just go home. These guys can't hurt us—well, maybe Toad."

"Hey!"

"No, the worst thing that'll happen, Freddy, is that I'll be going at super-fast speeds and due to the momentum, when I stop that sliding floor panel will come forward and cut my legs off at the shins."  
"Hey mates, my flamethrowers and I've spent all of my free time for a _week_ working on this thing. The sliding panel? It'll be bonzer," John insisted. To demonstrate, he opened the door on the drivers' side of the Ferrari, got in, flipped a switch on the floor, and an entire square panel slid back to reveal the bare street below. In addition, the seat slid back some to give the driver more room. Effortlessly, John flipped the switch again and everything slid back into its original position.

"So let me get this straight," Noriko said, switching places with John so that she was now in the drivers' seat. "I roll out into the parking lot two blocks ahead where the rest of the racers are waiting, keeping this panel up so that no one suspects anything. When the race starts, I accelerate normally, but once we get up to top speed, I slide the panel open and let loose with my powers. And then, as Freddy explains, I'll run the car 'Fred Flintstone-style' for the rest of the race, outpacing all the other racers who are relying on normal engines, even with the added weight of the car I'll be pulling."

"At that speed, you'll just be adding to the momentum, 'Riko," John said. "Just… don't stop too fast and you'll be fine."

"I thought you said the panel would be 'bonzer'," Noriko said, her left eye twitching.

"Oh it will, mate, it will. I've tested the lock, it's pretty secure. But don't put it to the test unnecessarily, y'hear?"

"Right. If this doesn't work, John, consider yourself the team's new lightning rod."

"Er… yeah. Anyways, mates, me 'n Freddy will be waiting for you two at the finish line along with the others and Tabitha."

"Good luck, Noriko!" Freddy said, waving to her as he and John started to walk away.

"Thanks, Freddy!" Noriko smiled, waving back.

"What does John _see_ in that Tabitha chick?" Toad asked. "She crazy. I'm glad she left when she did."

"Hello! John's crazy too, Toad."

"Then why are we following _his_ plan?" Toad asked as he hopped into the passenger seat and the two started up the car, driving their way up to where the racers were waiting.

"Because," Noriko sighed, "I'm getting tired of just sitting around our headquarters—eating, sleeping, training, it's all we ever do. You know me, I start to build up a bunch of static electricity and I start getting, well… hyper. At least this idea has the _possibility_ of getting rid of some of this pent-up energy."

"So the thousands of potential dollars ain't part of it?"

"Yes, that would be a major reason, too," Noriko laughed.

A few moments later, Noriko pulled the Ferrari up into the parking lot. Stealthily taking off her gauntlets and shoving them in the glove compartment, she turned to Toad as he opened the door to get out.

"Toad, whatever you do, make sure the race starts _soon_. I got here only about a minute early for a reason. I'm holding a big charge, here--without my gauntlets, I'm going to go nuclear if I don't start channeling all this energy out of me in about three or four minutes."

"Got it," Toad said, nodding. "I know these streets like the back'a my hand-- I was born here. I've looked at the race track, so I'll warn ya if there's anything you need to worry 'bout. Good luck, 'Riko."

"Thanks, Toad. Now, _get going_."

"Oh, yeah, right," Toad said, quickly closing the door and running up to Devin, who was waiting with several other members of the underground racing gang impatiently.

"Yo, what's the deal?" Devin said. "You two shoulda been here twenty 'till. We gotta start this race 'fore any flatfoots get wind 'a this."

"I couldn't agree more, homes," Toad replied, slouching even more than he normally did and making five different gang signs with his hands as he continued to talk. "But me and the lady, we got caught up in the trafficizzle, ya rizzle?"

"Uh… you even know what you're saying, man?"

"'Course I do—let's get this race going! Us brothas gotta stick together, fight the man, y'know?"

"Dude… you ain't black."

"Yeah, okay," Toad said meekly, backing off. "Let's just start the race."

"Aight then," Devin said. Turning to a scantily-clad girl next to him, he continued, "Yo, babe, all the racers in?"

The girl just nodded.

"A'ight, get out there, let's get it done!" Devin said, patting the girl as she ran towards the impromptu starting line, marked by cones on the sides of the road leaking colored smoke.

*_Toa- Todd, can you hear me?_* Noriko's voice crackled over Toad's comlink as Devin's girl began raising the flags in her hands and counting down loudly as she got to the front of the starting line.

"I hear ya, 'Riko," Toad responded. "Let's _do_ this."

"Could you have said anything _less_ cliché?" Noriko responded as Devin's girl reached zero and lowered her flags.

With a loud squealing of tires, the four cars in line took off, zooming down the street and out of Toad's sight.

* * *

Noriko's eyes constantly switched back and forth between her speed gauge, her rear view mirrors, and the closed panel underneath her feet.

*_A'ight, now you're gonna have a long straightaway here at the beginning, perfect place to build up some speed. Then pop the 'board and unleash the beast. Just, y'know… try to make it look realistic. Don't go_ too _fast._*

"Thanks for the incredibly obvious advice," Noriko said, watching as her speedometer neared seventy. "Alright, I've popping the board now. I can't hold this in any longer."

True to her word, Noriko flipped the switch on the floor and the panel and the seat slid back some. Channeling her pent-up electrical energy into her legs, Noriko let go of gas pedal and starting running along the ground. Considering that she was still partially sitting down in her chair, having the top half of her body sit so still while her knees and feet were moving so furiously would have looked rather comical to any observer. That was hardly at the top of Noriko's mind, however, as her car, her reactions, and everything in her mind suddenly sped up, things moving so fast she was head-to-head with the racer in front in mere seconds.

*_Alright, turn comin' up, big U-turn left. Y'see it?_*

"It'skindofhardtomiss, Todd. There'sabigbrightpurpleneonsignstretchedacrosspartoftheroadupahead, withmovingarrowspointingtowardstheleft."

*_Huh, that's weird. How'd they put up something that big that fast without the cops noticing? And where'd they GET something like that in the first--*_

"Don'tcare, turningnow!" Noriko said anxiously as she yanked the steering wheel to one side as hard as she could, still running but significantly decreasing her speed as the car skidded around the corner. She had slammed on the brake with one of her feet, but once she had made the nearly ninety-degree turn she brought her feet down onto the asphalt again, skidding with them a little but then taking off as she channeled energy into her feet again.

"Ugh, shoesstartedtoburnabitfromthatlastturn," Noriko commented. "ThinkI'lltaketheturnsentirelywiththebrakes, now."

_*…Okay, I totally didn't get that. You need to practice talking slower when you're all powered up, yo_.*

"Nevermind," Noriko said in a huff. "Whoatraffic!"

Noriko twirled the steering wheel to one side as a huge truck zoomed by, honking its horn. Unfortunately, that put her right in the path of an oncoming convertible.

Yanking on the wheel again, Noriko turned into the other lane quickly, but not quite quickly enough. The convertible slammed into the left half of the car, glass shattering as the car and its occupant careened off of the Ferrari and smacked into the side of a building. It slowed down the Ferrari a little, but given that it had the speed advantage by far, a few major dents and a cracked windshield were all it had to show for the experience.

Noriko muttered a curse as she straightened out the car again and sped up, bypassing the racer in front of her who had narrowly avoided the accident.

*_Whoa, what happened!? 'Riko, you okay?_*

"Yeah, I'mfine," Noriko said absentmindedly. "Noproblem, Toad, Ijustwasn'tawarewe'dbedoingthisAGAINSTTRAFFIC."

*_Uh… you're on a public street. Of course it's against traffic_.*

"Yeah, butIfiguredthey'dhaveclearedthetrafficoffforsafetypurposes."

*_What? …Oh, for SAFETY purposes. Still havin' trouble understanding ya. Um, if they did, the cops'd catch on._*

"Andthelargeneonturningsignsandclosed-offroadswouldn't?"

*_Look, just roll with it, yo! They must have connections or somethin'. And speaking of turning arrows, you've got two turns comin' up one after the other, but they're both smaller than the last time_.*

"YesISEEthem. They'rehardtomiss. Herewego…"

Noriko alternated between breaking and running to drift around the corners, including one unlucky car which she dodged, but which also ran smack dab into the racer behind her. A grin slowly etched itself on Noriko's face as she straightened herself out and sped up again.

"Okay, IthinkI'mstartingtogetthehangofthis. Thisisintense, Toad. TheGOODkindofintense, sinceI'mnotbeingchasedbygiantrobotsthistimearound."

*_Totally didn't get what you said again, but you sound happy. So, uh… yeah, you go, girl. Finish this thang_.*

* * *

The small crowd gathered around the finish line cheered as Noriko's Ferrari zoomed past it, all the other cars far behind.

As the Ferrari quickly screeched to a stop, the rest of the Brotherhood members—plus Tabitha and minus Toad, who was still at the race's starting point—ran up to greet Noriko as she rolled out the bottom panel on the car and put her gauntlets on before she got out of the car. She looked thoroughly exhausted, but just as excited.

"Wow, you won! That was amazing, Noriko!" Blob exclaimed.

"Yeah, that was TOTALLY AWESOME!" Tabitha also yelled, entirely too loudly. "Man, I wish I could go half as fast as you, girl!"

Wanda simply gave Noriko a slight smile and Tabitha an annoyed look—Pyro was clearly the only thing that had kept her from hexing Boom Boom a dozen times already.

"You aren't thinkin' of entering too, are ya Tabby?" Pyro asked Tabitha in a disgustingly playful tone.

"Nah, Fireball, I don't have the reactions 'Riko does."

"My friends call me 'Riko, Tabitha," Noriko said, letting a spark jump between her thumb and finger. "You can call me Noriko."

"Oh, BURN, Tabby!" Pyro laughed. Tabitha's expression changed to one of anger for a second before Pyro's laughing proved to be infectious and she started to giggle as well.

"As hard as it may be, pay no attention to the nutjobs," Lance said, walking up to Noriko. "You did good, 'Riko."

"Oh, it was a blast," Noriko said. "Taking hard turns, sending other cars smashing into walls, going over two hundred kilometers an hour… it was a rush, Lance. I'd almost do this for free."

Noriko laughed a little as Lance's expression changed to one of expectation briefly, though he briefly tried to hide it. "I'm _still_ taking the 60% cut of the money that we agreed upon beforehand, Lance. It's my skill and life on the line here, after all. You guys just fix up the car."

A screeching from behind them caught their attention as Devin and his girlfriend in another exotic sportscar came from around the corner, evidently having made their way here from the starting point. Showing obvious skill, Devin stopped the car just a few feet from where Noriko and the others were gathered.

"So, you got some skills after all, babe ," Devin said, handing over several hundred dollar bills to Noriko. "Here's your cut, two thousand big ones, paid in full. You best realize, though, these playa-haters you be racin', now, they're our worst. You on the bottom tier here, girl. You gotta a few more races, at least, before you racin' with the big boys."

"…If I understood what you just said, this was an easy race," Noriko said, smiling. "Well, don't worry. I've got more than enough 'skills' to go around."

"Hey, what's up with them steel sleeves on yo' arms?" Devin's girlfriend piped in.

"Uh…. Um…." Noriko stammered, caught with her guard down. _Crud, I had put them on without even thinking about it…_

"They're, uh, part of her new image," Fred interjected. "She's picked a codename to be known by in your races—uh, Gauntlet—yeah, that's it. So let everyone else know that they better watch out, 'cause Gauntlet here is coming for 'em."

"Aight, gangsta look then," Devin responded. "I was just about to ask you what you wanted to be known 'round as, nice to see you was thinkin' 'bout that already. Next race is Sunday, parking lot off of Sixth. Catch you then."

"You're a lifesaver, Freddy," Noriko said, letting out a sigh of relief as Devin's car took off.

"Yeah, Blob, thinking on his feet. Who'da thought?" Lance said, which earned him a playful smack on the back of the head by Noriko.

* * *

A person in a red-and-black costume observed the exchange from a rooftop abov, unseen. As soon as Devin's car took off, the costumed individual activated his comlink.

"Hey, Gauntlet?"

There was an audible sigh on the other end. *_What is it now?_*

"You might wanna think about trademarking your name, buddy. Just saw some punks on the street below use your codename for some underground racing circuit. Can I cut 'em to pieces for using your name without express written consent? C'mon, you know how much I love doing that."

_*… What are you _supposed_ to be doing?*_

The costumed figure sighed. "Spying on the X-kids. Boooring. They get up, they go to school, they go back to the Mansion. What's to observe?"

*_We need to get an exact schedule written down that they all follow, you KNOW this. Now for the _last time_ get back to what you're supposed to be doing_.*

"But of courze, mein Herr!" the shadow-cloaked figure said, taking on a fake German accent while straightening up and saluting to no one in particular.

_*…What?_*

"Nothing. Party pooper." The figure muttered, hopping onto the next roof and nimbly making his way down the street.

* * *

"Aight," Toad said, closing up his cell phone as he stopped pacing around the Brotherhood headquarters' main living area. "You been movin' up the ranks faster these past few weeks than almost any racer ever, 'Riko."

"What can I say? I got a knack for speed," Noriko grinned, stretching her arms.

"So what Devin told me is that he wants you to…. to, we all want you to rent a movie!" Toad said, quickly changing his sentence as Mystique passed through the room. "I mean, whaddaya think, 'The Dark Knight'? I think that's too dark, myself. Kinda creepy. I was thinkin' Iron Man, but that whole concept just sounds ridiculous, if y' ask me, so I mean it's up to you if…"

Toad trailed off as he watched Mystique exit the room.

"Uh… anyway, what I was tryin' to say was that Devin said you're racing the big racin' boss himself, 'Q', this Saturday."

"No problem," Noriko said, leaning back in her chair. "Even their best racers so far I've left in the dust. Or pinned beneath a smoking wreckage."

"Yeah, this racing circuit has really hit the front pages lately," Lance said from across the room, his head hid behind the local newspaper. "You've really upped the ante, Noriko. Lots of crashes, lots of injuries."

"Mostly caused by other racers or other drivers overreacting when they saw me heading their way. Not my problem, not when something's this fun."

"I know, I'm just saying… the cops might be keeping a close eye this whole operation."

"So? I'm not afraid of them," Noriko replied, confused why Lance would bring something like that up.

"No, but if THEY try to bust us, then you can bet Mystique will find out from the resulting news reports and the damage we'll leave behind from fighting them."

"Oh, yeah… crud."

"Wellll…." Toad said, interjecting, "Thaaat might not be a problem this time 'round, 'Riko. You're racing this 'Q' fella at Dead Drop Canyon."

Noriko started at Toad for a second before replying. "You're kidding."

"Wish I was."

"Wasn't that road closed because of its insane curves, dizzying heights, and practically no rails on the sides of the streets?" Lance said.

"Yeah, you hafta wonder why they built that crazy road outside Bayville's city limits in the first place," Toad responded. "It's almost impossible to drive down it even at a normal highway speed. Guess it's great for edge-a-ya-seat races, though."

"Well, then I'll just have to change my tactics," Noriko said. "Bump 'Q' off one of the ledges early, and then I'll automatically win. No problem."

* * *

"So, where is he?" Noriko said, crossing her arms and looking around. Devin and a few other underground racers were waiting around with the John, Toad, Noriko, and her Ferrari, but Q was nowhere to be seen. Most of the other racers in the circuit were waiting at the finish line, several miles down the twisting, closed-off canyon road.

"I dunno," John responded, glancing around nervously. "Boom Boom hasn't called me back in days, even though I've left 'er tons of messages. I'm worried something's happened to her."

"John, come on, my accent is not that bad. I said he. HE," Noriko said, rolling her eyes. "I don't care about your girlfriend who's just as crazy as you are."

"Hey, you're the one who's going to be racing at high speeds down a canyon road with almost no rails, mate."

"…Point taken."

Just as Noriko finished her sentence, a slick Ford GT pulled up to the starting line, colored mostly a light blue with jagged white stripes down the center.

"Wait a minute," Toad said. "That car almost reminds me of…"

As if completing Toad's thought, a skinny teenager with slicked-back white hair opened the door and stepped out of the car. Instead of his usual outfit, he was instead wearing ridiculously baggy pants, several gold chains around his neck, and sunglasses.

"Quicksilver," Noriko said, wincing and pinching her sinuses. "'Q' is Quicksilver. Great."

"Wait a minute," "Q" said, stopping in his tracks. "Those voices sound familiar…"

Pietro took off his sunglasses and almost bolted when he saw Surge, Toad, and Pyro waiting in front of him.

"YOU guys!?" Pietro yelped. "YOU'RE behind the new rookie who's aced almost everyone in my racing circuit!?"

"Mate, you are SO lucky Wanda's waitin' at the finish line instead of here," John laughed.

"Yeah, that 'new rookie'? That'd be me," Noriko said, taking a few more steps towards Pietro until they were less than a foot from each other. She looked down at the slightly-shorter former Brotherhood member and smirked, letting a spark fly between her fingers. "I'm 'Gauntlet'."

"But how--- how'd you find out about my new racing team?" Pietro asked, confused.

"They almost ran Toad over, and John came up with a quick money-making scheme that's actually worked out pretty well," Noriko responded. "The question is, what is YOUR butt doing back here in Bayville? Does it need kicking again?"

"Wait, hold up!" Devin said, stepping in between the two. "You homes' tellin' me you already know each other? F' real?"

"Devin, get a hold of the others," Pietro said. "I think we need to cancel this race."

"Say what!?"

"Wow, afraid to lose again?" Noriko smiled. "How typical. How'd you start up this whole thing anyway?"

"Had some help from my father," Pietro replied, growing increasingly wary, his eyes shifting from side to side. "He wants me to set up an operation here to make some money for a certain… project of his."

"And that would be…?"

"None of your business!" Pietro retorted, sounding more confident than he looked.

"Hey, we gonna race or what?" Devin interjected.

"No, I agree with Q here. This race is canceled," Noriko said, a growing orb of electricity quickly forming in between her two hands.

Devin cursed and leapt out of the way as Noriko hurled the orb at Pietro, who nimbly dodged it. Getting in his Ford GT in a split second, Pietro yelled back, "Nope, race is back on!" before a familiar panel popped off of the bottom of the car and the Ford GT took off, accelerating far faster than a racing car should have.

"Son of a…. John, he had the same idea you did!" Toad exclaimed.

"Explains why he got to the top so quickly, mate," John shrugged.

"Doesn'tmatter, he'sgoingdowntothebottomsoonenough," Noriko responded, electricity coursing through her body as she similarly sped into her car, popped the parking brake, and zoomed off after Pietro.

After watching the two sportscar zoom away for a few seconds, Toad looked over at John and said, "C'mon, man! We gotta see this!"

"I ain't down with that, square," Devin's voice said, coming from behind them as several familiar clicking sounds also came from behind the two Mutants' field of view. "I don't know what you two were pulling—having two Muties tryin' to make their way up MY racing circuit, steal MY green... I was the one who owned this circuit before Q showed up—after we had a race down this same canyon, I THOUGHT he beat me, fair 'n square. But now I see all you Muties in some operation to take this circuit I worked so hard to maintain 'n all? Oh, you ALL goin' down once I get th' word out t' my boys. Now, get y' hands up!"

Toad and John slowly turned around to face Devin and the other racers who had their guns loaded and pointed directly at them.

"U-uh…. I wouldn't do that if I was you," Toad said nervously, exchanging glances with John, who nodded back.

"Oh? And why's that?" Devin asked.

"'Cause, uh… we Mutants too. And I got the power to control…. Guns 'n stuff."

Devin cocked an eyebrow at Toad. "Yeah, right. I ain't buyin' that."

""Oh, yeah? Toad asked. "Well… hyah!"

Toad reached out with an arm and made a sudden gesture, as if to will the guns from the gang's collective hands. As the gang members looked down momentarily at their guns, John flipped his lighter out of his pocket and opened it. Just as the gang members realized that Toad was not, in fact, manipulating their guns in any way, a huge ball of flame erupted towards them.

Cursing, Devin and the gang members leapt to one side or the other, ducking as the huge gout of flame passed just over the heads. By the time they looked up, there was a stationary wall of flame separating them from Toad, Pyro… and Devin's Mercedes.

Devin muttered another string of curses and picked up his gun, firing away wildly at his own car as Toad and Pyro speeded off, but none of the shots found their mark.

"Well… crud," said Devin's girlfriend, coming up to him. "A crew 'a Muties? Whoda thought?"

"Man, I had everything just a few months ago," Devin pouted. "Freakin' Muties… Why can't they go back to th' hole they crawled out of?"

"So…." His girlfriend said after a minute of silence as they watched the three cars pull away and turn out of sight into the canyon. "Whadda we do now?"  
Devin shrugged and turned to his girlfriend. "I dunno… Wanna make out?"

"'Kay."

* * *

Meanwhile, Surge and Quicksilver were engaged in the chase of their lives. Both were struggling to keep their cars under their control as they navigated the treacherous curves of the roadway—with the side rails not being kept up in recent years, they had rusted to the point where they offered no protection whatsoever anymore. If either of them slammed against the rails, they'd surely give way and that individual would plummet to their doom.

Surge gritted her teeth as she yanked the steering wheel to the right as hard as she could, barely avoiding the treacherous drop as she turned her Ferrari around the 180-degree turn, tires squealing as she took off again. This course was pure torture on her feet—with all the quick turning that she had to accomplish, the thin metal sides of the cut-out hole in the floor of her car had scraped against her lower feet, drawing blood repeatedly, and her shoes stank of burning rubber.

Still, odds were Pietro was having the same problems she was.

"Youcan'toutrunmeforever, Pietro!" Surge yelled, unleashing a bolt of electricity at the Ford GT ahead of her, but just barely missing it.

"I don't need to!" Pietro yelled back. As he turned his car into one of the rare straightaways of any reasonable length along the course, he quickly switched on a radio communicator in the car.

"Checkpoints One and Two, Checkpoints One and Two," Pietro yelled into the comlink. "You guys hear me?"

*_Gotcha._*

*_Yeah, we hear you, Q. What up?_*

"Change of plans. The ramp we had placed up ahead to jump the gap in the road, about 4.9 miles into the course? You guys're there, right?"

*_Uh, yeah, we there. What you want us to do?_*

"Move it so that it's facing the wall. And quickly, me and Sur- Gauntlet are coming up fast."  
*_What!? You gon' kill yourself by driving right into the wall, man!_*

"Just DO it!"

_*…Your funeral, man_.*

* * *

Pietro was just barely hanging on. Both of his rear view mirrors had been blasted off, and multiple scorch marks had ruined his Ford GT's paint job. Luckily, it seemed like his plan was working as he squealed onto the short straightaway on the track leading up to the ramp he had told his uninformed subordinates to move.

As he had anticipated, the combination of the incredibly curvy road, two moving targets, and Noriko also having to keep half of her attention on keeping the Ferrari running at its top speed meant that only a few electric blasts had found their mark on his car, and glancing blasts at that. Also, Noriko had tapered off firing at him lately. That meant that her charge must be running low.

_Which means she won't be able to do THIS…_

Pushing his legs as fast as he could, Pietro accelerated the car far past its intended top speed. The tires squealed, and a stray pebble kicked up by the car ricocheted into the side windshield, causing a huge crack to splinter down the window at such a high speed.

Pietro didn't care. It was time to finally leave Noriko in the dust.

The car met the ramp and curved upwards, careening off the top and meeting the wall of the canyon. At this speed, it didn't even faze Pietro—the weight of the car was almost nothing, the momentum already almost carrying Pietro along with it, and not visa versa. The car hit a slight bump as it hit the side of the canyon and then—to any observer's amazement—continued upwards, up towards the top of the canyon.

The insane stunt distracted Noriko for a second, but only just considering her body's vastly accelerated reactions.

_Thinks I don't have enough of a charge to follow him, does he? Well, he's right… not with this car, at least!_

Noriko stomped down with her feet on the brake, yanking the wheel to the right as she did. As the car skidded to one side, she braced herself and leapt out of the side window at top speed, shattering the glass as she did so. She gritted her teeth as a few small shards stuck in her face and upper arms, but most of it clattered harmlessly against her metal gauntlets and fell by the wayside.

Now freed of the added burden of a whole car, Noriko surged forward and up the ramp, leaping onto and continuing up the vertical wall, her speed so fast gravity didn't particularly matter right now.

* * *

Toad and John both gaped at the rather unbelievable sight taking place far ahead of them—a battered Ford GT racing up at an unbelievable speed towards the very top of the canyon, with what looked like, at this distance, a plume of blue electrical energy racing after it.

"Okay," Toad said. "Now that just CRAZY."

"How is that even possible!?" John asked.

"Dude, you ever see _Fast and the Furious_? Anything is possible in a fast car, man. ANYT—whoa, hey!"

John let out a curse as he yanked the steering wheel to the left, narrowly stopping the two from careening off the side of a cliff.

"…Dudn't mean we can't still die, though. We ain't going quite THAT fast, Johnny Boy."

* * *

Noriko saw the Ford GT nearing the top of the canyon. With her split-second reaction time, she quickly realized that it was now or never.

She immediately ceased running, letting the incredible momentum continue to shoot her up the side of the canyon, at least for now. Channeling all of her remaining charge into her hands, she let fly one final electrical blast at the car—and with the earlier complicating factors all but gone, it was a direct hit. The car above her exploded in a spectacular fireball.

As she felt the upwards momentum start to cease, Noriko reached out with both hands and grabbed onto a small ledge sticking out of the side of the canyon, using her gauntlets' iron grip to latch onto it as fiery pieces of scrap started to fall around her. Noriko covered her head with one gauntlet as a flaming part of a door clunked against her with a force that would have knocked her out if not for that quick reaction.

Noriko lowered her hand and scanned the falling debris—no Pietro. Looking around, she spotted Pietro's mildly burnt form far above her, also hanging from a ledge on the canyon wall, painfully close to the top.

* * *

Pietro, using his lightning-quick reflexes, had managed to leap out of the side door just before the blast had hit. He had snapped one of his ankle bones and partially crushed one of his wrists in the process, but seeing the remains of his car falling into the chasm far below him, he considered it the better of the two options.

Still, he didn't really have anywhere to go. The top of the canyon was just beyond his arms' reach, and with one of his arms and legs essentially useless he was stuck here, hanging on the side of the wall, and he wasn't how much longer he could manage to do so.

Luckily, he only had to wait a few moments before he heard a very welcome question.

"Hey, Q. Need a hand, homes?"

Pietro looked up and miraculously, there was one of his gang members, sitting on top of the canyon wall right above him and reaching down with one hand. Smiling, Pietro gladly took it and the taller gang member pulled him up to the top, holding him by one hand, suspended above the chasm.

Pietro was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the gang member holding him morphed into Mystique. Pietro shrieked and let go of Mystique's hand, but she had him firmly in her grasp.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the traitor," Mystique smiled, turning around and throwing Pietro to the ground. Pietro let out a cry of anguish as he fell right on his broken ankle bone.

As Pietro gasped in pain and looked up, he saw Lance, Wanda, and Freddy all standing around him. All of them looked mad, but Wanda was so enraged she had a hexing aura surrounding her.

"Wanda, you've waited long enough," Mystique grinned. "Go ahead and have fun with your brother. I need to fetch Noriko."

Mystique turned back around, morphing into a hawk and swooping down out of sight.

Pietro whimpered as Wanda gritted her teeth and let loose with her powers.

* * *

Given what Noriko witnessed from her position further down the canyon wall—a gang member appearing out of nowhere to help Pietro up, followed by several cries of pain and then a hawk emerging from the same spot, swooping down directly towards her—it didn't take her long to figure out what was going on. The hawk swooped down, hovering for a minute and staring at her before finally turning around and offering her its back. Noriko jumped somewhat hesitantly onto the large bird's back as it began to descend down to the road below. As soon as it was a few feet above the road's surface, Noriko leapt off and the hawk set down, morphing back into Mystique.

"Alright Noriko, you're still fairly new here, so consider this your one and only warning," Mystique said, her voice dripping with menace. "Do. NOT. Do something like this without my prior approval EVER again. Do you understand?"

"Yes… yes, ma'am," Noriko said, her gaze never leaving the ground. She sheepishly kicked a pebble off the side of the road before continuing. "Um… if you don't mind me asking, how… how did you figure out what we were doing?"

"Noriko, you forget how skilled I am at infiltration. And how bad Toad is at lying," Mystique replied. "Because of my abilities, I've spent my entire life learning how to blend in, and in turn, learning when someone is _lying_ to your _face_. I've known you've been involved in this underground racing circuit ever since your first race. The entire Brotherhood's cocky demeanor the day afterwards was extremely transparent, and the news headlines about the new underground circuit in Bayville were more than enough to clue me in. I've been watching you race ever since, and I let it go this long because, quite frankly, you were making a lot of money. Money which is, of course, now mine."

"Yes, ma'am," Noriko repeated, her eyes still downcast. "I understand."

"Discovering Pietro was behind the whole operation was merely icing on the cake. Once you uncovered him, I felt it was time to end this because I felt we had little left to gain. If you hadn't won, I personally would have taken the little traitor into an alley after the race was over and captured him then. His purpose of forming a little racing circuit back here in Bayville is somehow connected to Magneto's plans, I'm sure of it. So now comes the fun part—beating the plans out of Pietro."

Noriko suddenly perked up, looking at Mystique with anticipation.

"…And that will be your punishment," Mystique smirked. "Wanda and I are the only ones who are permitted to harm Pietro in any manner for the next two weeks. Understand?"

"Yes," Noriko said dejectedly, her gaze lowering to the floor again. _Boy, she sure does know exactly how to get someone where it hurts…_

"Good," Mystique replied. "Now, let's backtrack and gather up Toad and Pyro. Oh, and Noriko?"

"Yes?"

Turning and starting to walk back down the road, Mystique called back, "All that said, you still have my permission to watch."

Noriko grinned mischievously as she followed Mystique, Pietro's cries echoing across the walls of the canyon. Whether she was the one doing the actual damage or not, the next few weeks were going to be extremely fun.

The End


End file.
